Kiev, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine The human rights ombudsman on Sunday called on international organizations to respond to a claim made by several Ukrainians prisoners of war were executed in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kiev had launched an incursion in August.
DeepState, a Ukrainian battlefield analysis site close to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, said Russian forces shot dead nine Ukrainian “drone operators and contractors” on October 10 after they surrendered.
Dmytro Lubinets said on Telegram that he has sent letters to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross about the claim, calling it “a new crime committed by the Russians.”
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s attorney general said Russian forces had killed 16 captured Ukrainian soldiers in the partially occupied Donetsk region.
There was no immediate response from Russian officials.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said on Sunday that its air defenses had shot down 31 of 68 drones that Russia launched in Ukraine overnight on Sunday in the Kiev, Poltava, Chernihiv, Sumy and Cherkasy regions. Another 36 drones are ‘lost’ over various areas, probably electronically blocked.
The air force added that ballistic missiles hit Odesa and Poltava, while Chernihiv and Sumy were attacked by a guided-air missile. Local authorities reported no casualties or damage.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that Russia had launched about 900 guided aerial bombs, more than 40 missiles and 400 drones against Ukraine in the past week.
Zelenskyy appealed on social platform Kiev is still waiting to hear from its Western partners about its situation repeated requests to use the long-range weapons they are intended to hit targets on Russian territory.
In Russia, the Defense Ministry said 13 Ukrainian drones were shot down over three regions of Russia: six in the Belgorod and Kursk regions, and one in the Bryansk region, all of which border Ukraine.